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Use an Apostrophe to Show Possession–Even if the Word Ends in “S” – Grammar Rules
When my college students wrote about Hemingway’s story “Soldier’s Home,” many of them failed to show the possessive case of Krebs. It is tricky to show the possessive case of words that end in “s.” You can choose either of the following forms to show possession of the name Krebs: Krebs’ Krebs’s When you talk…
Verb Tenses: Don’t Mix Them – Grammar Rules
Grammar Rules! Use Them or Lose Them! Today, I’m posting several grammar rules that #writers might like to review. Let’s Review Using Verb Tenses: If you begin writing a book review, a tweet about your story, or a pitch about your book, etc., in one tense. Don’t Mix Tenses. Example: Miss Emily is not…
Prepositions: Grammar Rules
The Rule for Prepositions Is That You Should Not Position A Preposition at the End of A Sentence, Phrase, or Clause. Like Most Rules, However, There Are Exceptions to That Rule, but Try to Rearrange Your Sentences So That You Have No Dangling Prepositions. Yet, don’t take this rule too far: “This is the type of errant…
October – The Month that Has Inspired Many, Many Books
“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.”s ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Very possibly, Ray Bradbury has written more about the month of October than any other writer. Even when he is not specifically writing about October, visions of that month seem to be lurking somewhere within his consciousness. “The…
Describe the Land around Your Childhood Home
Your journal assignment for today is to describe the terrain or the countryside of the area around your childhood home. When I say describe, I mean just that. Provide sentences that capture how the countryside looked. Don’t just say: “I grew up 40 miles south of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith has a population of…
Start a Daily Journaling Habit – Keep Up with Your Ideas and Random Thoughts – Get Ready for Memoir Mondays!
Most adults know this, and most college kids do, too: Organizing and Keeping-Up-With is the secret of success in most worlds. It is especially important for writers. Writers must not only keep up with appointments, but they must also keep up with ideas, too. And after we’ve finished writing a piece, we need to keep…
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard – Tips from a Pro
“WHEN YOU WRITE, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, a surgeon’s probe. You wield it, and it digs a path you follow. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory. Is it a dead end, or have you located the real subject? You…
The Little Red Hen – A Picture Book Classic from1918
Character Study Show Don’t Tell The Little Red Hen Retold and Illustrated by FLORENCE WHITE WILLIAMS The Saalfield Publishing Company Chicago – Akron, Ohio – New York PRINTED IN U. S. A. COPYRIGHT, 1918 BY THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY Little Red Hen lived in a barnyard. She spent almost all of her time walking…
Wolves in the Wall – A Picture Book by Neil Gaiman – Illustrated by Dave McKean
“Lucy walked around the house.” “Inside the house everything was quiet. Her mother was putting homemade jam into jars.” “Lucy heard noises. The noises were coming from inside the walls. They were hustling noises and bustling noises. They were crinkling noises and crackling noises. They were sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises.” “Lucy knew what kinds of…